Siegfried haxsing



(No Model.)

s. HANSING. MUFFL-ERFOR UPRIGHT PIANOS.

No. 398,150. Patented Feb. 19, 1889.

W/TNESS'S: I 8 my NTOI? I .wv m. I 7 w/agp t A TTOH/VEYS LII speetiveview showing the general arrange- SIEGFRIED HANSING, OF NEYV YORK, X. Y.

MUFFLER FOR UPRIGH'T PiANUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 398,150, dated February19, 1889.

Application filed November 8, 1888.

To all 10710711 it may concern;

Be it known that I, Srnornmn HANSING, ot' the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mufflersfor Upright Pianos, of which the following is a specification.

In the sound-mufliers which were hcret ol'ore used for upright and otherpianos the muftling bar and apron were applied to the strings by meansof a stop located above the keyboard in connection with intermediatelever mechanism. This arrangement was obj ectionable and unsightly. Inother mu filers the muffling bar and apron were actuated by means ofmechanism which is located at the interior of the piano and operatedfrom below the key-bottom, which arrangement was inconvenient andunhandy. Attempts have also been made to operate the mutliing attachmentby means of a pedal, but as the return of the lllllfl'llllg-bfil couldnot be accomplished by the same this arrangement was unsuccessful andwas rejected.

The objections to the mufflers heretofore devised have prevented thegeneralintroduction of muffling attachments for pianos which otherwisewould be of great advantage, inasmuch as the annoyance caused by thepracticing of beginners can be obviated to a great extent by the same.

The object of this invention is to furnish an improved muftlingattachmentfor upright pianos which is operated by pedal action, but insuch a manner that the innffling-bar can be applied to and returned toits former position with great facility; and the invention consists of amuliling-bar pivoted to the aei tion-frame of an upright piano andactuated by an oscillating lever, which is operated by means offulcrumed elbow-levers acting on its lower end, one of said elbow-leversbeing operated by a separate muffler-pedal and intermediate levermechanism when the muftling-bar is to be applied, while the otherelbow-lever is operated by the soft pedal and intermediate levermechanism, so that the muffling-bar is returned to its normal positionof rest.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a perment of my improvedsound-muffler for up- 1 Serial No. 290,299 No modeld right pianos andthe method of working the same by pedal action; and Figs. 2 and 3 aredetail side views of the same, drawn on a larger scale, showing itsconnection with the pedal-operating mechanism.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspondin parts.

A in the drawings represents the mu tilingbar, which is provided with amuflingapron, a, of felt or other suitable material, that is interposedbetween the strings and the hammers whenever the sounds of the stringsare to be mu died. The muftling-bar A is applied i by bracket-arms B,which are attached thereto by pivots b of the action-frame of the piano.Above the pivots of the lnaeket-arms B is applied to one of saidbrackets a fixed pin, (I, which is engaged by the upper forked end, (1,of an oscillating lever, D, that is fulcrumed to the side walls of thesupporting-frame of the piano. The lower end of the fulerumed lever Dacted upon by the upper toe-shaped ends of elbow-levers E E, which arepivoted at their lower and inner ends to the side walls of thesupporting-frame, and acted upon near their apiees by pusher-rods F F,that rest on intermediate pedal-levers, G G. The pedallever G andpusher-rod F are operated by a 1nuflier-pedal,P, while the pedal-lever Gand pusher-rod F are operated by the soft pedal P. The third pedal, Pserves for producing the forte playing. The soft pedal P also serves toraise the hammers by the usual lever-connection, G as shown in Fig. 1,besides retnrning the mui'fiing-bar into its normal position of rest.(Shown in Fig. \Vhenever the sounds of the piano are to be inuiiied, theniuftler-pedal P is lowered, so that by th 0 action of the pedallevcrsG, pusherrod F, elbow-lever E, and oscillating lever D the mu thing-ha rA is moved from the position of rest toward the strings, so that themuffling-apron is interposed between the strings and hammers, as shownfully in Fig. 2. The

muffiing bar and apron are retained in this position after the pedal Pis released, and are removed from the strings by depressing the softpetal P, which, by the action of the pedallever G, pnsher-rod F,elbow-lever E, and oscillating lever D returns the inuliiing bar andapron into its former position of rest, as

shown in Fig. 3. The soft pedal P hereby serves two functi0nsthat oflifting the hammers for piano playing as well as for returning themnffling attachment from the strings to its normal position of rest.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. The combination, with an oscillating 1nnffling barand apron pi 'oted to the supporting action-frame, of a fnlcrumcd leverengaging one of the supporting-arms of the mnffling-bar, amnfiier-pedal, a soft pedal, and intermediate lever mechanisms betweenthe fulcrumed 1ever and said pedals for applying or removing themuffling-bar to or from the strings, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with an oscillating muffling bar and apron, of anoscillating lever engaging the snpporting-arms of the same, pivotedelbow-levers engaging the lower end of said oscillating 1ever,-aseparate mufflerpedal, a soft pedal, and mechanism between said pedalsand the elbow-levers for applying the muffler to the strings orreturning the same to its normal position of rest, substantially as setforth.

3. The combination, with a muffling bar and apron, of pivoted bracket-arms supporting the mnffling-bar, a pin applied to one of saidarms, a fulorumed lever having a forked upper end for engaging said pin,elbow-levers engaging the lower end of the actuating-lever, msher-rodsfor raising the elbow-levers, a muffler-pedal, a soft pedal, andpedal-levers between the niuffler and soft pedals and the pusher-rods,whereby the elbow-levers and muffler-bar are alternately operated andthe latter either applied to or removed from the strings, substantiallyas set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed myname in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

SI'EGFRIED I-IANSING,

Witnesses:

PAUL GoEPEL, J OHN A. STRALEY.

